Surfactants (or surface active agents) are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or the interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants function as cleaning, wetting, dispersing, emulsifying, foaming, and anti-foaming agents in numerous practical applications and products. Accordingly, surfactants are present in detergents and other cleaning products, cosmetics, and are used in a wide variety of industrial processes.
Because of the wide use of surfactants, there is a need for surfactants that are water soluble, tolerant to divalent cations, soluble over a wide range of concentrations and temperatures, rapidly biodegradable, and nontoxic.